Angry Reston Residents Protest Controversial Lake Newport Soccer Fields Proposal

RESTON, VA — A new battleground has sprung up in Reston, and this time it's over soccer fields.

The Reston Soccer Association has put forward a proposal to install new artificial turf fields and lighting at the Lake Newport Soccer Fields. But members of the nearby community slammed the proposal at a meeting of the Reston Association Board of Directors on Thursday, prompting the board to table the proposal indefinitely.

Roberto Anguizola, the head of the Reston Soccer Association, told Patch last summer that the growing association needs synthetic fields to play year-round, as well as field lights.

But Eric McErlain, president of the Bayfield Station Homeowners Association, is organizing a community coalition to oppose the measure that he's calling Preserve Newport Fields.

"The proposal should be rejected outright and Reston Soccer should search for a more appropriate site to host their facility," McErlain said in prepared remarks delivered before the board. "Neighbors from the most affected clusters are united in our opposition to Reston Soccer’s proposal and are angered at the manner in which the Reston Association has mismanaged this project. In our view, the proposal violates RA covenants concerning the conservation of green space, and we believe it amounts to a taking of a shared community resource for the private gain of Reston Soccer."

McErlain goes on to accuse the Reston Association of assisting Reston Soccer with promoting the project and holding fundraisers.

"The letter announcing the first community meeting about this project came with only four days notice," he continued. "Many homes received no letter at all. The immediate reaction in the neighborhoods surrounding the Lake Newport Fields was one of shock and anger. Our community feels like it's been ambushed."

Anguizola insisted last summer that the association is doing its best to respect the needs of the community.

"A big part of the work is engaging with the community, including the surrounding community, and hearing what their thoughts are and concerns are," he said during the interview. "We love Reston and want to make it better and do it in a respectful way, and obviously we don't own that land -- it's the Reston Association's, so the first stop has to be the Board."

You can read more about the proposal to alter Lake Newport Soccer Fields on the Reston Association website.

Image via Reston Association